June 2022

Widely used survey unable to isolate specific psychosocial work dimensions

Guarding Minds @ Work is a widely used survey designed to measure 13 psychosocial dimensions of the work environment that have the potential to affect worker mental health. However, a joint study by the Institute for Work & Health (IWH) and Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW) finds the survey unable to measure each of the 13 dimensions in isolation. This has implications for workplaces that use the measure to assess how well they are doing on specific psychosocial dimensions, such as workforce civility and respect, workload management and more, says the research team.

Read about the findings

New review sums up sex/gender differences in work injury and illness outcomes

Men and women may be part of the labour force in roughly equal proportions. But many jobs and industries are still dominated by one sex/gender or another. In that light, a new systematic review at IWH looks at how work exposures and injury/illness outcomes are different for men and women.

See what the literature says

IWH input contributes to enhancement of WSIB’s Health and Safety Index

When Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board reviewed its Health and Safety Index, an indicator of the health and safety of Ontario’s workplaces, IWH researchers provided advice on index methodology. An impact case study summarizes how enhancements to the index incorporated that advice.

Read the case study

IWH team wins inclusive design competition for job support tool

A research team led by Senior Scientist Dr. Monique Gignac has taken the top prize in a competition called Inclusive Design Challenge: Support at Work. The competition, the second of the MaRS Innovation Challenges series and co-sponsored by CIBC, is aimed at finding solutions that improve support at work for persons with disabilities. The ACED project team (short for Accommodating and Communicating about Episodic Disabilities) won the competition for its Job Demands and Accommodation Planning Tool. The tool is designed to help people think about the workplace supports they need when they live with a chronic health condition. Recruiting is still ongoing to evaluate the tool.

Take part in the JDAPT study

IWH post-doctoral researcher wins two awards

Dr. Reena Shadaan, IWH Mustard Post-Doctoral Researcher, was recently named the recipient of two awards. She received the Mary McEwan Memorial Award, a dissertation prize given by the Centre for Feminist Research (CFR) at York University for contributions to feminist scholarship. She also received the New Voices in Labour Studies Best Paper Prize, awarded by the Canadian Association of Work & Labour Studies (CAWLS). The New Voices prize, given to an emergent scholar who presents at the CAWLS annual conference, recognizes Shadaan for her paper ”On Toxic Entanglements: Counter-Mapping the Nail Salon“ at the CAWLS 2021 conference.

Read Shadaan’s bio

CRE-MSD holds contest to invite MSD prevention success stories

Share your success stories on preventing musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). Enter a case study in a contest being held by the Centre of Research Expertise for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders (CRE-MSD), along with the Association of Canadian Ergonomists (ACE) and the Canadian College for the Certification of Professional Ergonomists (CCCPE). The contest is open to all, including employees at workplaces/organizations, professionals in the field, and students completing a placement. Prizes are offered across categories and entry levels.

Find out more

Uyen Vu
Senior Communications Associate
613-979-7742
uvu@iwh.on.ca